Pacific Crest Trail shut by Idyllwild flames

Smoke pours into the sky from the Mountain fire near Idyllwild on Wednesday. TERRY PIERSON, AP

IDYLLWILD – Orange County firefighters are among the crews battling a mountain fire in Riverside County that has forced 6,000 people to flee, officials said.

The fire had grown to more than 35 square miles, authorities said, as fingers of flame swept along mountain ridges above Palm Springs.

The fire, which has destroyed at least six houses and mobile homes, was just 15 percent contained and had shut down the famed Pacific Crest Trail by Thursday afternoon.

Smoke caused the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway to close, according to Patrick Evans, weatherman at CBS Local 2 and KESQ News Channel 3 in Palm Springs.

The fire has been growing in a manner that was unlike what officials typically experience. Tina Rose, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the behavior was extreme.

NIGHTFALL DIDN'T SLOW FIRE

"Usually it cools down at night and we get more humidity. That hasn't happened," Rose said. "It's been burning like it's daytime for 72 hours in a row."

Fire crews struggled to carve fire lines around Idyllwild to block the flames, which fire officials and residents estimated at times were 100 feet high. Roughly 4,100 houses, hotels, condos and cabins in Idyllwild and surrounding communities were threatened.

Lewis Millett left behind his three-story home after hearing the evacuation order on the radio.

"It's never been this bad, and it's never been this close," Millett, 61, said as he sat on a cot in an evacuation center in nearby Hemet. "I have high anxiety."

Millett and his wife gathered up his paintings, sculptures and prized family heirlooms, including a Medal of Honor given to his father in 1951 and several autographed pictures signed by U.S. presidents. An artist, he has lived in the area for three decades.

"It's like an island in this beautiful forest," Millett said. "It's a great place to live."

Nearly 3,000 firefighters and more than a dozen aircraft were assigned to the fire. Authorities said two large firefighting aircraft from the California Air National Guard were ready to help on request. Each C-130J can drop up to 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant, according to the state Office of Emergency Services.

The fire was churning through thick, dry brush and scattered trees in an area above 5,000 feet elevation. The area immediately surrounding Idyllwild is much more thickly forested and has not burned in decades.

The fire has shut down popular campgrounds and hiking trails, including some 30 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs 2,650 miles from Mexico to the Canadian border and connects trails in the area, according to a website of the Pacific Crest Trail Association.

"That's going right down the middle of the fire," U.S. Forest Service spokesman Norma Bailey said of the trail.

Any hikers going into the forest "would be stuck," she added.

Firefighters using picks and shovels to dig firebreaks were expected to significantly tear up the trail and "a lot of rehab" will be necessary, Bailey said.

Related Links

Smoke pours into the sky from the Mountain fire near Idyllwild on Wednesday. TERRY PIERSON, AP
Locals read posted notices and updates on the progress against the Mountain fire Wednesday near Idyllwild. RICHARD LUI, AP
A huge column of smoke rises from the Mountain fire near Idyllwild on Wednesday. RICHARD LUI, AP
Pat Moloney packs up to evacuate from his home on Saunders Meadow Road in Idyllwild as the Mountain fire approaches Wednesday. RICHARD LUI, AP
Idyllwild Vacation Cabins owner Martha Sanchez piles the last of her belongings into her truck as she evacuates Idyllwild on Wednesday. TERRY PIERSON, AP
A DC-10 air tanker drops fire retardant on flames atop a ridge Wednesday as crews battle the Mountain fire near Idyllwild. RICHARD LUI, AP
The charred remains of homes and trees are seen in the Bonita Vista area near Idyllwild on Wednesday. JOHN ASHBURY, AP
Phillip Canaday waters down the roof at his house on South Circle Drive in Idyllwild on Wednesday and points to smoke from the Mountain fire. RICHARD LUI, AP
Dustin Leadbetter, 11, right, prepares to evacuate his home on South Circle Drive in Idyllwild on Wednesday with help from family friend Mary Postel after mandatory evacuations were made as the Mountain fire nears. RICHARD LUI, AP
A home in the Bonita Vista area outside Mountain Center near Idyllwild is reduced to rubble on Wednesday. Authorities have issued evacuation orders for hundreds of homes as this wildfire approaches in the mountains southwest of Palm Springs. JOHN ASHBURY, AP
Dustin Leadbetter, 11, right, and Eric Gentry, 17, prepare to evacuate from the Mountain fire in Idyllwild on Wednesday. RICHARD LUI, AP
A female inmate hand crew from Puerta La Cruz and firefighters in an engine company with them set a fire Tuesday to reinforce the line to stave off part of the Mountain fire burning up a hill toward them off Apple Canyon Road near Lake Hemet. CRYSTAL CHATHAM, AP
Irene Jenke evacuates her home on Morris Ranch Road with her pets Tuesday as the Mountain fire burns near Lake Hemet. FRANK BELLINO, AP

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